Course curriculum

    1. To Stretch or not to Stretch

    1. Pandiculation in Practice

About this course

  • Free
  • 2 lessons
  • 0 hours of video content

To Stretch Or Not To Stretch

‘To Stretch or not to Stretch’explores pandiculation as a somatic alternative to stretching. It offers a short introduction to the anatomy and physiology of how muscles contract, why they are ‘tight’, and what to do about it. There is no practice element except listening with a beginner’s mind. 

In this class you will explore:

  • The anatomy and physiology of muscle contraction. 
  • What is muscle tone and how do we experience it as tightness or looseness. 
  • A somatic alternative to stretching called pandiculation (sometimes described as a full body yawn). 
  • New solutions to pain, tension and inflexibility. 
  • The importance of internal body conversations and relationships in movement. 
  • How somatics is the flip side of a single coin with yoga.

Pandiculation in Practice

‘Pandiculation in Practice’ includes a simple variation on cat pose that you can trial with yourself and/or your students. It offers experiential knowledge what pandiculation feels like and how it can re-set muscle length and tone. 

In this class you will explore:

  • The practical side of pandiculating (see video 2 for an introduction) 
  • Releasing your lower back muscles and entire back body
  • Fluid, seamless glide in movement
  • Continuity in your myofascial chains 
  • Crouching Kitten as one of MANY somatic movements which can be seamlessly incorporated into a yoga class.

Instructor(s)

Lisa PETERSEN

Senior Yoga Teacher, TrainerPRO

Lisa Petersen is a Yoga Teacher, Yoga Therapist, and Somatic Movement Educator based in Ireland. With over two decade’s teaching experience, Lisa is known for her clarity, presence, humour and passion. She offers workshops and teacher training in Yoga, Somatics and embodied anatomy internationally. Lisa co-taught Donna Farhi’s 2013 and 2015 Advanced Teacher Trainings. She holds a Diploma in Yoga Therapy and originally trained at Vivekenanda Kendra, India’s most reputable Yoga Therapy Hospital as well as the International Institute for Somatic Movement Education. She studied experiential anatomy and Yoga directly with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen from 2008-2010, and a further decade studying embodied asana with Amy Matthews. Her style is personable and enriched by a deep understanding of anatomy, alignment and universal movement patterns. With a wealth of knowledge, her classes and workshops are innovative and authentic as she guides her students towards personal transformation on and off the mat. She is passionate about finding the balance between being and doing, movement and stillness, strength and fluidity, discipline and freedom. A personal note from Lisa: I am often asked why I chose to dedicate my life’s energy to the practice of Yoga. There are many answers, but at its simplest, yoga makes me feel authentic, profoundly peaceful, embodied and real. It offers me a vehicle to explore life’s questions, and a map for exploring myself from the inside out. It helps me understand how our physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic bodies are interpenetrating frequencies woven together. It keeps me curious and allows me be a midwife to my own and my students’ experiences. It’s the place where I can find balance between life’s polarites. It’s my coming home to myself. I am an explorer, a scientist, an anatomy geek and a spiritual searcher. I am equally an educator who is passionate about the art of communicating and transmitting knowledge. Inevitably, what I learn I teach. It is my dharma. I am deeply and profoundly grateful to this ancient practice and to all the teachers and students that have gone before me.